Mace and nutmeg

[Barriehie]

The first chicken rillette recipe is underway. Half the chicken is for rillette and half for chicken melts.

For rillette most recipes suggest oven at 120c or simmering on the hob until it falls apart.
I’ve opted for slow cooking in the pot as I’m hoping to slide the skins off whole and make some chicken crackling to go with chicken melts later.

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Chicken rillette recipes are all over the place when it comes to method and ingredients. Some say to confit it in duck fat, some say to tightly pack and add a little stock, some say to heavily reduce stock and wine at the end and add duck fat last and some say heavily salt at the beginning whilst others say don’t add salt until the end.

The herbs and spices also vary a lot with thyme and garlic being the only two constants.
I used mace and will do a wine n stock reduction at the end as this sounds the most interesting.

I did not know that mace is the lacy outer casing of nutmeg so that was nice to read about.

(Mod edit: moved to the spice pages . KKA)

I didn't know that about mace either.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I didn't know that about mace either.

It’s an interesting spice. A bit neglected in favour of nutmeg but I tasted some on its own and I think it has a hell of a lot to offer.
I can imagine it adding depth to stews etc. Nutmeg is IMO a pungent spice that overwhelms a lot of the other ingredients but mace tastes like it might be the good bit’s of nutmeg without the sweetness.

I think used judiciously it might at that “yum whats in this?” factor without being obvious and I do love a secret ingredient

 

[Barriehie]

It’s an interesting spice. A bit neglected in favour of nutmeg but I tasted some on its own and I think it has a hell of a lot to offer.
I can imagine it adding depth to stews etc. Nutmeg is IMO a pungent spice that overwhelms a lot of the other ingredients but mace tastes like it might be the good bit’s of nutmeg without the sweetness.

I think used judiciously it might at that “yum whats in this?” factor without being obvious and I do love a secret ingredient

I've only ever bought a quantity of it to make actual Vienna Sausage. So different from the homogenized meat whiz they sell in a can and a million times better!

 

[karadekoolaid]

It’s an interesting spice. A bit neglected in favour of nutmeg but I tasted some on its own and I think it has a hell of a lot to offer.
I can imagine it adding depth to stews etc. Nutmeg is IMO a pungent spice that overwhelms a lot of the other ingredients but mace tastes like it might be the good bit’s of nutmeg without the sweetness.

The nutmeg tree produces a fruit which is a bit like a peach, but very acidic. A chef friend of mine sent me 10 kgs from the eastern part of Venezuela, some while ago, and I made nutmeg chutney and nutmeg jam, both of which were utterly divine ( for the flavour, not my cobbling the stuff together)
Anyway; the fruit kernel is the "nutmeg", as we know it (or not, because many people only use it in powdered form). Mace surrounds the kernel.
Mace is less agressive in flavour and a little more aromatic; the nutmeg itself is more potent. Both are used extensively in Indian cooking.
The nutmeg originated in Indonesia, and was possibly/probably spread across the world by the Dutch.
The nutmeg is actually "poisonous", but only if you consume 4-5 whole nuts. It contains a substance called myristicin, which causes hallucinations.
These days, apart from Indonesia, Grenada is one of the biggest producers of nutmeg.

 

[karadekoolaid]

Nutmeg is IMO a pungent spice that overwhelms a lot of the other ingredients

It is indeed potent, so you only need a tiny bit. It's like cinnamon and cloves, IMHO. Just a touch.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It's weird because both my OH and I often can't taste the nutmeg and will end up grating half a nutmeg into a dish before we can taste it.

We've got mace a week and that tends to end up in the spice mixes or in chutney I make.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

The nutmeg tree produces a fruit which is a bit like a peach, but very acidic. A chef friend of mine sent me 10 kgs from the eastern part of Venezuela, some while ago, and I made nutmeg chutney and nutmeg jam, both of which were utterly divine ( for the flavour, not my cobbling the stuff together)
Anyway; the fruit kernel is the "nutmeg", as we know it (or not, because many people only use it in powdered form). Mace surrounds the kernel.
Mace is less agressive in flavour and a little more aromatic; the nutmeg itself is more potent. Both are used extensively in Indian cooking.
The nutmeg originated in Indonesia, and was possibly/probably spread across the world by the Dutch.
The nutmeg is actually "poisonous", but only if you consume 4-5 whole nuts. It contains a substance called myristicin, which causes hallucinations.
These days, apart from Indonesia, Grenada is one of the biggest producers of nutmeg.

Interesting. I knew nutmeg was a fruit stone because my son has nut allergies and people were always asking me about nutmeg. I definitely prefer the less pungent flavour of mace.
The flavour of the stock that came from cooking the chicken with a bit of mace is divine. The mace is doing exactly what I would hope for, that invisible support that adds an imperceptible flavour boost

It is indeed potent, so you only need a tiny bit. It's like cinnamon and cloves, IMHO. Just a touch.

Yes they are the other spices I'm very careful with. Cinnamon in indian cooking I'm fine with, it works well other spices but as a pudding spice
Cloves I will use if specified in a recipe but I have my beady eye on the quantities

 

[TheSoloChef]

I wondered what Mace was and now I know! I use it when cooking Scotch Pies but never really knew what it was.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

I wondered what Mace was and now I know! I use it when cooking Scotch Pies but never really knew what it was.

Tell me about Scotch pies?

 

[TheSoloChef]

Tell me about Scotch pies?

It's a pie eaten in Scotland!

Here's my recipe:

Recipe - Scotch Pie Recipe

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

It's a pie eaten in Scotland!

Here's my recipe:

Recipe - Scotch Pie Recipe

Daft as I am I did managed to deduce that much
I was more interested in what meat you went with seeing as mutton isn’t standard supermarket fare.

Nice recipe, simple and love the mace in it, seems very fitting!

 

[TheSoloChef]

Daft as I am I did managed to deduce that much
I was more interested in what meat you went with seeing as mutton isn’t standard supermarket fare.

Nice recipe, simple and love the mace in it, seems very fitting!

Sorry but I couldn't resist my reply (hence all the emojis)!!

Lamb mince (or ground lamb as our American friends might call it) is readily available in most supermarkets here in the UK along with Beef Mince, Pork Mince and even Turkey Mince - if you wanted to use Mutton instead of Lamb then I think you'd have to go to an independant butchers and ask them for some.

 

[TastyReuben]

Lamb mince (or ground mince as our American friends might call it)

We would say “ground lamb” -

That’s mainly to differentiate it from the lamb we pick straight from the trees.

 

[SandwichShortOfAPicnic]

Sorry but I couldn't resist my reply (hence all the emojis)!!

Lamb mince (or ground mince as our American friends might call it) is readily available in most supermarkets here in the UK along with Beef Mince, Pork Mince and even Turkey Mince - if you wanted to use Mutton instead of Lamb then I think you'd have to go to an independant butchers and ask them for some.

I took it in the spirit it was intended

I am in the UK so am familiar with the usual offerings. I think your lamb mince would be nicer than mutton anyway

 

[TheSoloChef]

To be honest, although it should be minced lamb, I have seen hot/warm Scotch Pies sold simply as Meat Pies so who knows what the meat was, could have been anything like some dodgy doner kebabs you can get!!